Some Blog Site

For a variety of reasons, I moved the Australian accent generator to its own site.

At the site Accenterator, you can generate not only an Aussie accent, but also Irish (needs work) and Mock Swedish (no one can tell if it’s wrong anyway).

Go visit the Accenterator and try some phrases.

It is time once again to update Some Blog Site readers on the results of my Some Fun Site project to create a more accurate football prediction method.

The 2014 NFL season is over, and here are the most accurate methods for predicting regular-season game results (wins-losses):

• MPWLS: 69%
• MPWHFA: 66%
• ITPLS: 66%

MPWHFA is listed first because it was one game better than ITPLS.

This year saw the addition of MPWHFA to the prediction methods. “MPWHFA” stands for More Points Wins with Home Field Advantage and contends that the team that will win is the team that scores more points than its opponents, adding a few points to the home team. It did great, capturing the long-term title among prediction methods. (For the ideas behind the methods, please visit the Some Fun Site page.)

And if you think you have a formula that can predict the winner of an NFL game better than 63.8% of the time, let me know and I’ll add it to the list.

Anna Dewdney has used all the rhymes for llama – pajama, mama, drama, etc. – except for Obama. With the inauguration of the new congress that begins the last part of Obama’s term (and the initial bits of new presidential campaigns), I figured it was time for someone to publish the last book of the Llama Llama series.

So here, without further ado, is Llama Llama and Obama:

Read the rest of this entry »

Happy New Year.

Pictures compliments of Gamma, via his kindergarten work.

In case you’re wondering, it says “Funny World”.

There are those who disagree with the current setup of playoffs for the NFL. If you’re not familiar with the playoff format: the NFL is divided into 2 conferences, and each conference has 4 divisions of 4 teams each. The winner of each division gets into the playoffs, and there are 2 extra spots (wildcard) in each conference for teams with the next best win-loss records.

It sounds like a fairly straightforward arrangement. Division schedules are setup so that there is a clear winner within each division. And if a team is good but happens to be in a division with a slightly better team, it can still get into the playoffs via the wild card spot.

The problem that some people have with this arrangement is this: what if one whole division is good and another whole division is bad?

For example, let’s say the best team in the NFC West has a losing record, at 7-9. But they win the division, so they get into the playoffs. Meanwhile, teams with better records than 7-9, in other divisions, miss the playoffs.

Maybe the NFC West teams had tougher schedules. I think that, either way, those teams will be eliminated along the way.

The alternative promoted by those opposing divisional seeding is to scrap the meaning of divisions and base playoff entrance and seeding solely on overall record.

Going to seeding based only on record doesn’t account for tougher or easier schedules. Plus I don’t like change, so I’m going to say keep the playoff format like it is.

What is the purpose of the playoffs and championship game?

To determine the best team that year?

Ostensibly, yes. In reality, no. It determines who is playing the best at the end of the year. Otherwise, why not just play the season and crown as champion the team with the best record? If there’s a tie, have a playoff.

Why don’t they do that? Because people like having tournaments. And because they like having underdogs who could have a chance.

Those who do want to change it do so because they add to the purpose of the playoffs. They want to find the best team, and they want close, exciting playoff games.

But what if the 4 best teams are in the same division? Would people want to watch them play again after having watched them play each other twice in the regular season already? No. People want to see matchups of different divisions.

Bottom line: If a team didn’t win its division, then it is not the best team in the league. So the current format does fit the purpose of the playoffs.

And Mr. Commissioner, if you’re reading, the one thing you should absolutely not do is expand the playoffs. Right now, it’s about a third of the teams make the playoffs. That’s a good ratio. If you widen the playoffs to include more teams, you’ll approach the mark of half the teams making the playoffs. That’s ridiculous – playoffs should be significant. Handing them out to anyone who is average or better makes them less relevant.

Plus it would mess up all those “they haven’t made the playoffs since …” stats.

Merry Christmas.

Pictures compliments of Gamma, via his kindergarten work.

We got this mass-mailing the other week:

Anyone else bothered by the term “custom jewelry in stock”?

To me “custom” means it is made to my specifications.

And “in stock” means something that is already made and sitting on the counter or in the case, ready to be bought the moment I walk in the store.

So unless the store employs psychics, there cannot be, by definition, any custom jewelry in stock.